


Foolish games

by satelliteinasupernova



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Jealousy, Miscommunication, Rivals to Friends to Lovers, Student Council, in this house we love toni topaz, in which betty has a grudge and isn't honest with herself about her feelings, student politics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-10 17:35:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20855600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/satelliteinasupernova/pseuds/satelliteinasupernova
Summary: Jughead Jones was objectively a jerk. Betty liked to think she normally could give people the benefit of the doubt, but Jughead Jones had long tried her patience.





	1. PART ONE

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ArsenicPanda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArsenicPanda/gifts), [raptorlily](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=raptorlily).

> Part one is based on the prompt: "Quit smiling at me, I can’t stop messing up my sentences when you look at me like that.”
> 
> Part two is based on the prompt: "“I’m so in love with him, I don’t know what to do.”
> 
> This was originally posted as a short prompt to [my assortment of short fics](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20748437/chapters/49298336), but I enjoyed the universe and wanted to make it a complete fic!
> 
> Thanks to kayromantic for beta-ing!

Jughead Jones was objectively a jerk. Betty liked to think she normally could give people the benefit of the doubt, but Jughead Jones had long tried her patience.

Strictly speaking, yes, when Riverdale High had combined with Southside High, she had taken some time to get used to the new students. Sweet Pea was giant and had an almost constant scowl on his face, but when Betty helped handout new school books to the Southside kids, he’d had such a bright, enthusiastic look on his face that she hadn’t been at all intimidated by him since. Toni could have a sharp tongue and had very little patience for what she called “Northsider problems,” but her clear and critical perspective had already proven to be a great asset to the Blue and Gold since she joined. Fangs rarely spoke outside of the company of his friends, but he and Kevin had taken to flirting in the halls, and Betty had once witnessed him tripping over Sweet Pea’s feet after Kevin had walked away.

Jughead Jones, though, was completely different. And sure, the fact that he was running against her for student body president was certainly a factor. But she had been planning on being student body president ever since she first re-established the Blue and Gold in sophomore year. It was a great opportunity to actually address the problems they learned from students through the Blue and Gold, while also being able to prioritize growing student clubs beyond Riverdale’s sports teams. And yes, it would look good on college applications.

None of that mattered, though, because here she was in front of the school, flubbing through her list of arguments that she had spent the last two weeks writing and re-writing until they were absolutely perfect, and it was all because Jughead Jones was smirking at her from the other podium.

Somehow she made it through the debate, but not without feeling completely mortified. She practically stormed off the stage as soon as audience started clearing out of the auditorium. She kept walking until she found a dark corner backstage so she could at least let herself fume where no one could see her. She let herself imagine what a Jughead Jones shaped punching bag would look like, leather jacket and stupidly cute hat included.

She heard someone clear their throat behind her. She twirled around so quickly that her ponytail smacked against the side of her face. The person who had interrupted her isolated moment of rage, was of course, Jughead Jones.

“Good job out there, today.”

She glowered at him, already waiting for a sarcastic comment to follow.

He cleared his throat again, his jaw set tight, brows furrowed. From afar, she had seen him smile, and even laugh from time to time, but whenever he was around her, he almost always had this same frustrated expression. Except for when they were debating. Then he always had that annoying, amused smirk.

“You too,” she replied with a sigh, hoping this was all he expected from her.

He didn’t move to leave, instead he just continued to stare at her. Maybe he expected her to leave first.

Just as she was about to move past him, he spoke again, “I have a proposition for you.”

She hated the chill that ran up her spine as he spoke. To hide it, she folded her arms over her chest, and just stared at him expectantly. He took a few steps toward her, until they were only a foot apart. She didn’t know why she was holding her breath.

“I’ll drop out of the race, if you make me your vice-president.”

She huffed out a breath, “I can’t do that. I’ve already promised Kevin he’ll be my vice-president, and I can’t just drop him.”

He responded with an amused half-smile, “Word has it that it wasn’t his idea, and that you roped him into it.”

She looked away from him, scrunching her face up in frustration. That was technically true, but it wasn’t supposed to be common knowledge. It didn’t exactly help her campaign to have a vice-president that wasn’t all that motivated about the position. Kevin knew better.

“I don’t know where you could have possibly heard something like that.”

Jughead laughed, so lightly that she barely heard it, “Maybe tell your friends not to be so loose lipped when they’re being flirted with.”

_ Fangs _, she realized in frustration.

She tried a different approach, “Why are you conceding? You don’t think you’ll win against me?”

He shrugged, “A Southsider winning against the straight-A daughter of the woman who has been running a smear campaign against the Southside in the Register for years? I always knew it was a long shot.”

She winced, “I’m not my mother.”

“I know,” he said, with an unexpectedly genuine smile that left her at a complete loss for words. 

“So,” he continued. “Partners?”

She stared back at him, her heart hammering in her chest. Everything he said was true. She knew Kevin would probably be thrilled to be relieved of his promise to run beside her. He enjoyed the limelight, but he would much rather gossip about school politics than participate in it. 

After a moment, she sighed, and put her hand out toward him, ready to shake his in agreement. “Fine, it’s a deal.”

He smiled again, and reached for her hand, but instead of gripping it into a handshake, he pulled her hand closer to him and kissed the top of her knuckles. “Partners, then,” he said as he pulled away. He nodded at her once before turning away, leaving her alone in the secluded corner.

Jughead Jones was going to be the death of her.


	2. PART TWO

“What are you doing for the summer?” Toni was stretched out on the Blue and Gold’s couch leafing through a stack of papers. The Blue and Gold had requested write ups from the graduating seniors about their high school experience, and Toni and Betty were currently picking out the submissions that stood out. Some of them stood out for all the wrong reasons.

Betty looked up from the center desk and her own stack of papers, “I have an internship with Mrs. McCoy at her law office.”

Toni hummed a sound of approval.

“If you want, I can see if she has room for another intern. I think you’d be good at it.”

Toni glanced up, her face unreadable, “Does it pay?”

“Oh…” Betty responded uneasily, “No, it doesn’t.”

Toni just shrugged, “I work during the summer.” She shuffled to a new page, “I’ve got a couple options.”

She was tempted to ask what those options were. The wheels were already turning in her head, planning how she could strong arm her mom into hiring Toni for the summer at the Register. Then again, working with Alice Cooper might, to Toni, be the worst possible option. Not that Betty could blame her.

While Betty was still debating whether this was a subject she should push on or not, Jughead sauntered through the door. With a small smile, he grabbed one of the desk chairs, and pulled it over to the desk beside Betty, sitting down backwards in the chair.

“You’re late,” she eyed him sharply.

“Sorry, Boss,” he said, not looking sorry at all. 

Not long after they were officially elected President and Vice-president of the student council, he had taken to calling her “Boss” as a joke. Without fail, it always sent an annoying thrill through her body. She hated it.

Since Jughead was her vice-president and had joined the Blue and Gold, he had become an almost constant presence in her day-to-day life. She’d gotten used to him, more or less, but there was always a part of her that felt on edge when he was around. 

At first, he had been reluctant about joining the Blue and Gold. She had mentioned it to him after reading over his written introduction. She had asked all of the members of student council to submit one.

“You’re a good writer,” she had said, not quite holding in her surprise.

He chuckled, but there was a slight tick in his eyebrows, “At least I don’t have to read it publicly this time.”

“Do you like writing?” she asked.

He shrugged good-naturedly, “It’s a hobby.”

“Why haven’t you joined the Blue and Gold?”

Now his expression was slightly exasperated, “Now that we’re partners, you want to drag me into all your pet projects, Cooper?”

“I didn’t mean-”

“I’m joking,” he said with a laugh, a smile tucked into his lips.

“Well,” she said, still feeling that she had overstepped, “Think about it, at least.”

A few weeks later when Jughead stepped into the Blue and Gold office, he looked almost bashful. Betty noticed a shared glance between him and Toni, who was looking particularly smug.

“Great!” Betty said, clapping her hands together when he told her he wanted to join the Blue and Gold. That small, hidden smile was back again. She thought it really softened his face.

As she pulled out the member submission form, she couldn’t help but ask, “Did Toni manage to convince you?”

Toni laughed. Jughead quickly turned back toward her, giving her a sharp look. “Uh,” he coughed, “Yeah."

"Anyway.” He said, changing the subject, “What’s my first assignment, Boss?”

And so things had been for most of the school year, Betty and Jughead balancing their time between student council obligations and the Blue and Gold. Now that it was nearing the end of the year, there was less responsibility expected from them in student council, but that had been replaced by the rush to get the last few issues of the Blue and Gold ready for print before the school year ended.

Betty handed Jughead a few of the submissions. “So, what are your plans for the summer?”

Jughead had started to reach for the papers, but blinked at her question, his expression uncharacteristically blank.

“We were talking about it before you came in,” Toni explained.

“Ah,” he said with a shrug, his expression back to normal, “They hired me to work at the Bijou this summer.”

“Oh, that’s right. You used to work at the Drive-in, didn’t you?” That had been before they knew each other, but she had seen him working there a few times before the place had closed down.

Toni leaned forward in her seat and mock-hissed at Betty, “Shhh, don’t talk about the -ive-Dray-in-Way-”

Betty laughed, “Why not?”

Toni flopped back down into the couch, “Because I’ve had to hear Jughead’s speech about the _ injustice _ of it closing at least a thousand times.”

Jughead glared at Toni from across the room.

“Anyway,” he said, turning back to Betty, “You should come by over the summer. Bring a friend, or whatever. I’ll try to sneak you an extra candy bar or something.”

Betty could have sworn she heard a chuckle from Toni, but when she glanced over, Toni was focused on a page in front of her.

“Um, yeah,” Betty said, glancing back at Jughead, “I’m sure I’ll see you there.”

He responded with a smile that almost looked shy. Suddenly full of nervous energy, Betty turned back to her work, “Now, stop avoiding actually helping us out.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a bolder smile.

It was a week later that Midge stopped by the Blue and Gold during fourth period looking for Jughead. “Hey Betty,” she said cheerfully, “Is Jug here?”

Before Betty could answer, Jughead walked in the door. “There you are,” Midge said in a breath. She reached out to touch Jughead’s arm. “Are you headed to the Bijou after school?”

“Yeah,” Jughead answered, looking slightly confused, “Aren’t you scheduled to work tonight too?”

“I am,” she said, her shoulders sagging, “With the rain, I was kind of hoping you could give me a ride.”

Typically, Midge was driven home by her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Moose, but word had it they had recently broken up. This more or less confirmed it.

“Yeah, sure,” Jughead answered easily. “Just come find me after class. I’ll wait out front.”

“Thank you,” Midge said with a sigh of relief.

Betty had never seen Jughead and Midge interact with each other before. Midge was small with a cute round face, and a slightly punk style. Somehow, despite the fact that Jughead practically towered over her, they seemed to compliment each other well.

Betty looked away, an ugly knot forming in her stomach.

Later, after Jughead had packed up for the day and left the Blue and Gold office, Betty was still thinking about it.

"What do you think of Midge?" She asked Toni, pretending to be interested in putting together the spread for next week.

Toni glanced at the doorway, as if expecting Midge to be standing there, "I don’t really know her, but she strikes me as the kind of Northsider who likes to pretend she isn't one."

If that was how Toni described the altogether harmless Midge, Betty couldn't help but wonder how Toni would describe _ her _. It wasn't the first time she had wondered that. But Toni rarely gave Northside kids much attention unless she had reason to, with one major exception. 

Betty wasn't sure what to make of Toni's interest in Cheryl Blossom. It was hard to know from one day to the next if they would be fighting or flirting.

She had asked Jughead about it once.

He had laughed, "Toni likes a fight. But what really gets to her is when people won't say what they're thinking. And Cheryl always-"

"Says what she's thinking," Betty finished for him.

He shrugged.

Betty watched him for a moment, before asking, "Does she get into fights with you about that?"

"What do you mean?" He leaned back in his chair and opened a bag of chips that had previously been hidden in his jacket pocket.

"About not saying what you’re thinking." She had been working beside him for the better part of a year, and still felt like he was a mystery to her.

"What are you talking about, Boss," he said with a smile, "I'm an open book." He tilted his chip bag toward her. Ever since he had learned about the strict diet her mom kept her on, he relished in pushing her to break it. 

She reached for it with a sigh, and he responded with a satisfied grin.

Now, Toni was watching her thoughtfully. “Why are you asking me about Midge?”

“I don’t know,” Betty said, fumbling for an excuse, “I thought...maybe you’d get along. That you might be friends.”

Toni shrugged, “She’s usually hanging around with the Bulldogs, I don’t know if I’ve ever even talked to her.” She paused, looking thoughtful, “but if Jug thinks she’s cool.” Toni shrugged in a way that Betty interpreted as_ then that’s good enough for me. _

Betty felt such a wave of nausea that she could taste bile in her throat. That, she supposed, was exactly the problem. Midge was sweet, thoughtful, and had a surprisingly quick wit. She knew Jughead and Midge would get along, because everyone got along with Midge.

And compared to that, what was Betty, really? Besides _ bossy_.

It was a few minutes later, tired of the circular thoughts in her head pinpointing every single flaw she had, when she forced herself to ask, “Are we friends?”

Toni laughed, the sound almost a giggle, “Yeah, Betty. I’m pretty sure we’re friends by now.”

Betty’s held breath came out in a sigh of relief. She could feel herself smile despite herself.

Midge catching a ride with Jughead after school started to become a regular thing. Betty was pretty sure she was the only one who noticed. Or cared. She didn’t really want to dig too much into why it mattered so much to her. 

She was starting to dream about Jughead. A lot. She had had dreams about him before, some romantic, some sexual. She had done her best to wave them off as just her brain running wild because she was around him so often. Now they were occurring with such regularity that that didn’t really feel like a valid excuse anymore.

Oddly enough, the romantic dreams were the worst of them. During the dream she would experience such an unbridled feeling of affection, a warmth deep in her chest, that she would wake up with a feeling of painful loneliness. For the rest of the day, she would find herself thinking of Jughead’s hand in hers, about him kissing her on the head. And when they were in the same room together, that affectionate warmth that she had dreamt about would come back in full force. She would be left stumbling over her words, fidgeting, unsure of what to do with her hands.

She was miserable.

“You’ve been acting weird lately,” Toni said one afternoon when they were alone in the Blue and Gold. Now that Jughead had an afternoon job, it was a regular occurrence. 

“Things have been normal,” Betty lied.

Toni was quiet for a moment, studying her, “Jughead thinks he did something wrong. He says you’ve been quiet around him lately.”

Betty shrugged, “Nothing’s wrong.”

Toni sighed as she handed over the photos she had chosen for the print layout. “Don’t you think you should talk to him?”

Betty stared intently at her work and refused to meet Toni’s eyes. Changing the subject, she asked, “Which of these do you think would be better as a cover?”

Toni stared at her pointedly, but didn’t bring the subject up again.

Still, Toni’s words rang in her head for the rest of the day.

Hours later, nearing midnight, she found herself sitting on a bench outside the Bijou, unsure of what she was even planning to do. She had been restless ever since she had gotten home from school, and had decided to slip out of the house while her mom was on the phone. She hadn’t really thought about where she was going, until she was standing in front of the Bijou.

She put her head in her hands. _ What was she even doing? _

It had been nearly two years since she had confessed to Archie that she loved him and he had turned her down. It was honestly something she rarely had reason to think of anymore, but now, for some reason, his words from that night kept cycling through her head.

_ “You’re just too good for me, Betty. You’re perfect.” _

_ “I just don’t think of you that way.” _

There was a heaviness in the pit of her stomach.

Betty nearly jumped when the doors rustled open nearby.

She heard Midge’s voice. “There was an entire soda spilled out on the floor on row J. I don’t know if I even managed to get all of the ice pieces.”

Jughead groaned, “Well, better you than me.”

“Hey!” Midge whined with a laugh, but Jughead had turned away from her and noticed Betty seated at the bench just a few feet away from them.

Betty was desperate to run.

“Hey, Boss.” He looked surprised, but what really unnerved her was the sound of caution in his voice.

“Oh, hey Betty!” Midge waved happily. “Did you wait for us?”

_ No_, Betty wanted to say, but her words were stuck in her throat.

Jughead glanced between Midge and Betty, as if waiting for some sort of clarity from either of them. They were interrupted by the sound of a car stopping at the curb in front of them.

“Oh, sorry guys!” Midge said, “Moose is here. I’ll see you Monday. Have a good weekend!” She waved at them both cheerfully as she stepped up into the front seat of the car. Betty could see Moose smiling at Midge through the crack in the door as it swung closed.

Then it was just her and Jughead. 

The night was eerily quiet.

“Hey,” Jughead said as he walked up beside her. “It’s kind of late, Betty. Is something wrong?” 

He rarely called her Betty. For some reason it made her want to cry.

Midge was back with Moose, so didn’t that mean problem solved? If she had been so worried about Jughead and Midge getting close, then she didn’t have to worry anymore, right?

But that didn’t change anything. Not really. It wasn’t the real problem to begin with.

She glanced up at Jughead. He was looking back at her expectantly.

She wasn’t ready for this. 

She wasn’t ready to be rejected by him.

Betty stood up, her eyes looking out at the store across the street, anything to keep from looking directly at him.

_ Just get it over with_, she thought. It was better than tormenting herself.

She could tell him how she felt, and then she could get over it. Maybe. It had worked with Archie.

But this felt different. This time it felt like she would really be losing something.

Jughead reached out and put his hand on her arm, “Just talk to me. Tell me what's wrong..”

Betty closed her eyes tight, and let it all come out as a rush. She felt the drop in her stomach as though she had just taken a freefall off a cliff. “I’m in love with you, Jughead. I’m sorry, I don’t expect you to say anything, I just. I just needed to say it, so I can… so I can move past it. I feel like I’ve been out of my mind lately.”

Jughead’s voice was quiet when he said, “Is it a bad thing? Being in love with me?”

Betty’s eyes blinked open. Instead of the expression of discomfort and pity she was expecting to see on his face, he looked hurt, maybe even… afraid. She had never seen him look so small before.

“Isn’t it?” she asked him, no longer certain of even the ground underneath her feet.

Jughead gave a short, humorless laugh. “For me or for you?”

“For you!” Betty replied in a burst. Her own words were starting to play back in her head, and she was slowly starting to understand how Jughead had taken them. “Jughead, that’s not- I didn’t mean I was _ ashamed _ of loving you.”

“Tell me then, what you meant.” His face was a mask of calm, but his eyes were watching her closely.

“I just meant,” she said with a sigh, “that I don’t expect you to love me back.”

“What,” Jughead said, incredulously.

“What?” she asked back.

“Betty,” his eyebrows were tightly knit together, his expression somewhere between confused and frustrated, “I’ve always loved you. I know for a fact that it’s been really obvious, because literally no one will leave me alone about it.”

Now it was Betty’s turn to be confused, though her heart was pounding so loudly she could swear she could hear it. What did _ always _ mean. “But...you never said anything.”

He sighed, “Yeah, well. I… It didn’t seem like you were interested, so I…” He glanced away, blinking rapidly, his eyes wet.

Betty was quite tired of talking, she decided. She knew what she needed to know.

She reached for him, turning his face toward her again, and promptly kissed him. 

After a moment, she pulled back to look at his face. He looked slightly stunned, but all the tension had eased from his face. So she kissed him again.

This time, he put his arms around her, so tightly that it was almost uncomfortable. It was all so much better than the feeling of falling aimlessly in the unknown that she had been experiencing for weeks.

“So this is good then?” she asked once he pulled away. Just to be sure.

“Yes, Boss,” he said, exasperated. Then he leaned forward to kiss her again.


End file.
